I have a 1998 Accord coupe 4 cyl, 5 speed with 210k miles and my wife has been complaining about the brakes. So I started by driving the vehicle and found hard braking caused the right rear tire to lock. The locking may be a symptom of another issue which I found when rotating tires 2 weeks ago. The right rear inside tire tread showed significant wear and cupping which I never witness before in the previous 200k miles ( I bought the vehicle new). Today I pulled off the rear drums to check for wear and as expected the original shoes are about 50% worn and no visible wear to the drums (either side).

At first I thought the inner tire tread problem could be related to a worn control arm (upper or lower) and check them for play; zero play, then I wondered if the drum bearings (which aren't serviceable items) could be going south, especially the right wheel side. I wasn't able to detect any wear but at 210k miles I would suspect any wear could cause the camber wear problem. So I guess I've identified two problems but think they are related. I suspect the locking right rear brake issue could be related to a loose wheel bearing that would allow the drum to be out of perfect rotation causing it to vibrate and lock.

So I would like any suggestions based on your experience as to what you think is happening with the 1) inside tire tread wear on right rear tire and 2) service options for R & R of rear drums/bearings.

Thanks.... Dio

 

I never worked on rear drums. My cars have rear disc brakes.

Search sTpKpkxJjLQ on Youtube. It is a video on how to change rear drum brakes. You may want to clean and lubricate the components, then adjust the brakes.

If the bearing is bad, then all you have to do is remove the drum to access the hub and bearing. It is one unit.

As for the abnormal tire wear, I would inspect all the bushings of the control arms.

 

Ok stupid me... At first glance it appeared the hub and drum were one assembly but also looked like they should separate. I tried but couldn't get them apart. I went back and tried with a different approach and was able to separate the hubs from the drums. The drums are fine but I suspect the hub bearings are going south. How long should hub bearings last?

 

All depends....the rear on my 95 are still OE???? LF twice, RF once.

Was there any "wet" spots on the shoes?

Check the bearings for play...if one is bad might as well relace the rear shoes and hardware.

When was the last alignment? Also have you checked all of the suspension parts? End links, ect?

 

If wheel bearing is going bad, it should have some roughness when rotated and play when shoved in/out. If neither, then bearing is OK. There is no "mileage limit" on bearings to my knowledge. Some will run forever and some fail early (rarely). I've never replaced a Honda wheel bearing and have driven two Accords to well over 200K miles.

More likely a brake fault. See video that PM suggests.

good luck